India dismissed Pakistan’s claim that it was building a secret nuclear city, and termed it a diversionary tactic of the neighbour to deflect attention from its “continued state sponsorship of terrorism”.

“These are completely baseless allegations. The so-called secret city appears to be a figment of the Pakistan imagination,” said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup at a briefing here.

“India has always been in compliance with all its international obligations. This is a very strange statement coming from a country that does not have a separation plan and has a strong record of proliferation which is well known to the world,” he said.

“This is a diversionary tactic by Pakistan which aims to deflect attention from the real issue at hand — the continued state sponsorship of terrorism by Pakistan and its harbouring of internationally designated terrorists,” said Swarup.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria claimed India has also built a “secret nuclear city” and has been conducting tests on inter-continental missile, reported Dawn newspaper.

“There is a fear that the Indian reactors not mandated by the safeguards might be used clandestinely for plutonium production and the existing stockpiles might be diverted to a military programme at a subsequent stage,” Director General Disarmament at the Foreign Office Kamran Akhtar said in Islamabad.

Earlier this week, Pakistan said it wants India to bring its entire civilian nuclear programme under the safeguards laid out by the International Atomic Energy Commission.

On Pakistani Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s remarks on the resumption of peace talks with India after the ongoing assembly elections in five states, Swarup said: “It is not state elections in India but state terrorism by Pakistan which has stood in the way of a peaceful bilateral dialogue.”

“It should no remain in denial on the impact of cross border terrorism on the bilateral relationship. Both the problem and its solution are within Pakistan’s reach,” he added.